Postwar economic hardship was also accountable for the rise of both the Nazi and Fascist regimes. Both Italy and Germany had already been exhausted in the war. Hyper-inflation, sharp decline of industrial production, the wartime loss of huge manpower and massive unemployment, etc. resulted immediately after the war. In 1921 there were 2.5 million returned Italian soldiers waiting for re-employment. Especially in Germany, the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 led to terrible devaluation of the mark and paralyzed the industrial production. The Great Depression of 1929-33 led to many bank failures and enterprise closedown. By 1933 there were six million people unemployed. Germany lost all her overseas markets while Italy’s gains in the war could not cover her losses. Both Italians and Germans were despaired; any leader who could achieve quick economic recovery would be certainly popular.
The First World War witnessed the victory of the western democratic powers. Yet democracy failed to save the infant republics. The Weimar Republic was the most democratic form of government that Germany had ever had. Kaiser William II abdicated and fled, marking the end of the Hohenzollern empire. However, the party government was terribly inefficient. There were too many parties but none won absolute majority in the Reichstag. As the system of proportional representation was adopted, coalition cabinets were inevitable. Politicians were irresponsible while policies were inconsistent. They were incapable of solving the postwar difficulties. Though Italian politicians might be more experienced, they were corrupt and the frequent changes of coalition governments created similar problems as those of Germany. Efficient one-party rule became a good alternative to both dismayed Italians and Germans.
Social disorder was common in both Italy and Germany after the First World War. Street fightings between the extreme left and extreme right were usual. Assassinations of government officials happened, too. In Italy there were many strikes in the north and peasant riots in the south. In Germany ex-Freikorp members usually disturbed social order. In 1920 there was the Kapp Putsch. As Robert G.C. Waite says, these ex-servicemen “were disbanded physically but not psychologically”. Hitler’s SA and SS absorbed such people and gave them the meaning of life.
As the parliamentary government was unable to maintain law and order, many parties set up their own private armies in both Italy and Germany. The propertied class found their lives and assets unprotected. Above all, in both countries the communist threat was imminent. In 1919-21 farm workers of southern Italy formed socialist leagues seizing land and setting up co-operatives. In 1919 the Spartakist Rising happened in Germany. Industrialists, petty bourgeoisie and farm owners ,etc. sought protection and supported the anti-communist Fascists and Nazis.
Personal political mistakes were also responsible for the rise of totalitarian regimes in both countries. In Italy being discontented with the inefficient party government, in 1922 King Victor Emmanuel III not only stopped the police and army from breaking Mussolini’s March on Rome but invited the latter to come to power. Soon he became a puppet and Mussolini started to form his totalitarian regime. Upon the recommendation of Papen and Schleicher, in 1933 President Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor. They miscalculated that they could control Hitler.
Nonetheless, one should not ignore the roles played by Mussolini and Hitler. They were both capable of taking full advantage of the favourable conditions. Both were good orators who could secure popular support with propaganda and thrilling speeches. Both had organized highly disciplined parties to spread activities and combat opponents. Both had appealing ideologies and supported an expansionist foreign policy. To Italians and Germans, both were strong leaders in sharp contrast to the weak parliamentary governments.
However, there were some differences in the rise of the totalitarian regimes between Italy and Germany. First, Germany inherited Prussian authoritarianism; her democratic tradition was shallower than Italy’s. In particular Hitler who had served in the army and promised a massive rearmament programme could get the Reichswehr goodwill. Germans who did not believe democracy supported Hitler’s “action without thought” (A.J.P. Taylor) and “return to barbarism”. (A. Lyttanson) Second, Mussolini came to power quickly after the First World War, whereas Hitler could not do so. His Munich Putsch failed in 1923. He could not realize his dream until Stresemann’s death in 1929 and the occurrence of the Great Depression in 1929-33. Third, Mussolini rose to power with a coup d’etat by his March on Rome, while Hitler’s Nazi Party had won almost absolute majority in the Reichstag with popular support and came to power constitutionally.
In a nutshell, the various circumstances during the inter-war period did pave the way for the establishment of totalitarian regimes in Italy and Germany.